Ravichandran Ashwin Opines on Harshit Rana and Shivam Dube's Concussion Sub Controversy

The inclusion of Harshit Rana as a concussion substitute has sparked a heated discussion among cricket fans. He replaced Shivam Dube to make his T20I debut against England in Pune, but the move has generated a lot of controversy because it appeared to go outside the standard ICC standards for concussion replacements.

For the unversed, in the first inning, the latter was struck on his helmet by a bouncer from Jamie Overton. After passing the fitness test, he resumed batting. However, Harshit Rana was brought on as a concussion substitution, therefore he was unable to field in the second innings. The Delhi seamer claimed three wickets and was important in India's victory by 15 runs, giving them an insurmountable 3-1 lead with one game remaining.

Teams are permitted to send a like-for-like substitute in the event that a player sustains a concussion, according to ICC regulations. Given that Shivam Dube is an all-rounder and Rana was a quick bowler, their skill sets differed greatly in the fourth Twenty20 International. Despite all of this, there were many doubts over whether India's substitution was legal, even if match referee Javagal Srnath had given his approval, enabling Rana to play.

Ravichandran Ashwin Clears the Air:

Many commentators questioned the decision to allow Harshit, a frontline bowler, to replace Dube, a batting all-rounder, in the event of a concussion. India had Ramandeep Singh on their side, who may have been a comparable alternative for Dube, according to the renowned Ravichandran Ashwin.

Ashwin said on his YouTube channel, "The game is done. India captured yet another series at home. T20I has been a real juggernaut of a win. But my question is, whether we forgot it was an international game and played an IPL match? Because today all the discussion was on how Shivam Dube's concussion substitute. I can understand it has happened in the past too. In Canberra, Yuzvendra Chahal replaced Ravindra Jadeja. You can call it poetic justice or in fact poetic injustice. I don't understand it."

He added, "At least earlier, Chahal replaced Ravindra Jadeja. Here, Harshit Rana replaced Shivam Dube. There is no role for the Indian or England team. If there is no one in the squad, then you can say that Harshit Rana can bat a bit and Shivam Dube can bowl a bit, that's why we brought him in. Like-for-like replacement Ramandeep Singh was sitting outside. I don't understand."

Ashwin also stated, "This is a case of pure cricketing miscalculation, either on the part of the umpires or the part of the match referee or whoever be it. Ramandeep Singh was there, a batter who can vall a bit, like-for-like for Shivam Dube. But not him. Harshit Rana was chosen as the concussion substitute. I think the people in charge should look into this. Today it happened against England and hurt, someday India might be hurt too."

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